


Must Have Been The Wind

by ivyraine



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, F/M, First Meeting, Fluff, Song fic, light angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyraine/pseuds/ivyraine
Summary: Jaime hears a crash in his upstairs neighbors apartment and decides to investigate.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 12
Kudos: 143





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is actually inspired by the song Must Have Been The Wind by Alec Benjamin! I love the song so much I wanted to write a small fic based on it and thought of Jaime and Brienne. I recommend listening to it!  
> (also second fic :) i hope you enjoy)

Jaime was ready for bed. 

He didn’t even bother changing out of his work suit before he tumbled onto his silk sheeted mattress and let out a tiresome sigh. He spent a very long day at Lannister Corp listening to his father lecture him on how important it is that he marry soon to continue the Lannister legacy. 

He was the heir to the most influential company in Westeros but he wasn’t doing a very good job keeping up with what was expected of him. 

Jaime never wanted the company. He would have gladly given it to his sister if he could have, but she was across the world on their father’s orders. Tywin Lannister couldn’t have his only daughter scheming her way to steal Jaime’s title. Even if Jaime didn’t want it, his father didn’t trust Cersei enough to hand it over to her. So Tywin, doing what he does best, sent her away to meet bachelors in Europe and last that Jaime heard, she did just that. 

Jaime couldn’t help his eyelids flutter shut, drowning out the moonlight coming from his bedroom window. The only thing he craved was sleep as he slowly started to drift off. 

But then a forceful crash erupted inside the apartment above his and Jaime bolted up from his bed. 

A woeful cry followed the crash along with some small sobs and a patter of footsteps darting across Jaime’s ceiling. Normally Jaime never heard a peep from his neighbor upstairs. He never met them and never thought he would need too but something about the crash startled Jaime. 

Things fall all the time, Jaime knows that. But it was the cry that gutted him. 

He hopped out of bed, slid his jacket across his shoulders and started for the elevator. As soon as the doors opened to the sixth floor, Jaime quickly walked down the hallway and pivoted to stand in front of his upstairs neighbor. 

He knocked three times and waited for some sort of response. He heard a stumble from inside the apartment, a small yelp and then mumbling before the door swung open. 

Before him stood a tall, amazon built woman with eyes that could be mistaken for glittering blue sapphires. The outline of her eyes were red and her cheeks looked a little puffy. She was wearing an oversized red sweater that reached the bottom of her thighs and long white socks that came up to her knees. She nervously tucked a straw blonde curl behind her ear and sniffled as her eyes traveled the length of his body. 

She looked completely lost, so Jaime decided to speak, “Hi, I’m Jaime. I live in the apartment below you and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” 

Her eyes immediately grew two sizes bigger than the moon. He tried his best to smile and make sure she knew he didn’t mean any harm. She already looked a little fragile and Jaime didn’t want her to be scared of him.  
Plus, he couldn’t keep his gaze off of her eyes. 

He had never seen any eyes that color blue before. She wasn’t a conventionally pretty woman but that didn’t mean Jaime didn’t find her attractive. She had the longest milky white legs that, with her socks stretched across them, thought might have reached the stars. She was a little bit taller than him but he really didn’t mind because he could see her eyes more clearly. 

“Um, Hi Jaime.” She said a little hesitantly, her arms snaking around to hug her hips in a defensive position. “I’m Brienne. And I–I’m fine, thank you.” 

“Are you sure?” Jaime pressed, not really trusting her. “I thought I heard— like a large thing of glass just... shatter.” 

She forced out a laugh that didn’t quite meet her eyes and zipped her sweater up to the bottom of her chin, “I think your ears are playing tricks on you.” She tried to tease but Jaime could tell even she wasn’t buying it. 

She glanced down at her feet before she looked back at Jaime, her chin wobbling just a bit. “I appreciate the worry, sir— it’s really nice of you, but I have to go back in. Wish I could tell you about the noise, but I really didn’t hear anything.” She gave Jaime a hopeful smile and shrugged softly. “Must have been the wind.”

She then went to close the door on him but Jaime was faster. He quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist, tugging her back to face him. He could see it in her eyes that she was just saying what she thought Jaime wanted to hear. 

But Jaime didn’t get out of bed just so he could start worrying about the girl upstairs. “I’m seriously just your neighbor that’s worried.” Jaime tried. He was pleading to her. “I promise I’m not playing tricks on you. I know we just met, but if you need someone to talk to— even if it’s just for an hour or two, you can knock on my door. I’m a really great listener.”

She shivered under his touch so he released her wrist and stepped back, brushing a nervous hand through his hair. Did he push too much? Her eyes were darting back and forth, as if they were arguing with one another. Jaime wasn’t completely finished though, “And we don’t have to talk about… the wind. We can talk about anything you’d like. Only when you're ready.”

Brienne glanced into her apartment one last time before looking back at him with a small smile on her face. The color in her cheeks started to return to her. “Okay…” She said. “Jaime…” The way her tongue rolled across the syllables of his name sent a chill down Jaime’s back. 

She opened her mouth to say something else but a phone started to ring that was echoing throughout her apartment. She flinched, her hand catching the door as her beautiful eyes turned sad. 

“I—er, have to get that, I guess.” She said, sounding like it was the last thing in the world she would rather do. Jaime almost felt disappointed. “But maybe I’ll take you up on your offer, Jaime.”

Jaime genuinely smiled, nodding, “Please do. Anytime.”

He stood there, green gazing at blue with only the violent ringing filling the space between them. She smiled once more, “Well then, Goodnight Jaime.”

“Goodnight Brienne.”

She slowly closed the door, leaving Jaime alone in the cold hallway. He turned away from her door and started the walk back to his apartment.

As he wrapped his jacket tighter around him, Jaime suddenly realized he wasn’t all that tired anymore.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brienne confides in Jaime about the wind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i hadn’t planned on writing a second chapter to this but i was reading the comments on the first one and this little chapter just popped into my head. i hope you enjoy it :))

Jaime couldn’t believe that Brienne was sitting next to him on his couch. 

He hadn’t heard a word from her in four days since he interrupted her night, then all of a sudden she showed up at his door with bottle of wine and a small shrug.

Of course he let her in. She didn’t give him a reason for her visit, but she offered to pop the cork and pour a glass if he provided them. Confused but weirdly excited, Jaime abided her request and returned to his living room with two clear wine glasses and a bottle opener. 

As soon as he sat down on the right side of the couch, the cork popped off and Brienne was pouring the wine.

“I hope you like red.” She said, shyly.

“I do, thank you.” He replied, as he grabbed his glass. 

He tried to meet her eyes, her sparkling, pretty, sapphire eyes; but instead she had them focused on the rim of her glass. Her leg was bouncing frantically and she was gnawing pretty hard on her bottom lip.

Jaime raised his glass, “A toast?” He tried, hopefully.

Brienne raised her head, a fond expression across her face as her cheeks flushed. She nodded and mimicked Jaime’s gesture. 

“To...” Jaime trailed off, thoughtfully.

“Neighbors?” Brienne suggested. 

Jaime smiled softly and felt all the tension in his body go slack. He nodded his head and clinked his glass against her, “Neighbors.”

They both took a sip.

Silence once again clouded over them and Jaime didn’t know what to say. He had a million things he  _ wanted _ to say, but he didn’t know which were appropriate.

“I just wanted to apologize,” Brienne blurted out, unexpectedly. Then she cleared her throat and took a gulp of her wine before she placed it back on the coffee table and leaned back on his couch. 

“For what?”

“For bothering you the other night. For worrying you.” Her eyes trailed down the length of her arm as she started to fiddle with the ends of her sweatshirt, “I’m usually more considerate and I’m sorry that I—“

“You don’t need to apologize.” Jaime quickly interrupted. 

He was baffled by her apology. If anything, Jaime was the one who couldn’t mind his own business. He thought he had scared her off. 

Brienne went to argue but Jaime stopped her with a gentle hand on her calf, “Seriously, I prodded and I’m sorry I bothered  _you_.”

She seemed to be at a loss for words, her mind pondering. 

“Everyone has their own shit. I get it.” Jaime offered.

“Yeah,” Brienne muttered, almost to herself. Then she looked back up at him, a soft look in her eyes, “Well I also came here to thank you,” She gestured to the wine, “For caring, even though we don’t know each other.”

Jaime saw an opening and scooted an inch towards her, “Well firstly, anytime. And secondly, what if I do want to know you.”

Brienne’s eyes grew wide as a blush dotted her cheeks, “Er—well then, sure.” 

Jaime couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his throat, “You don’t sound so sure.”

Brienne brought her knees to her chest, “I—I am. But—“ She turned around, almost as to scan his apartment for an intruder to pop out and attack them. “This isn’t a trick, right? Your not—?”

“A trick?” Jaime asked, a little louder than necessary. “Why would this be a trick?”

Brienne flustered, “No reason. I just—“ She sighed, looking down at her sock covered feet and kneading her palms into her knees, nervously.“It’s the wind.” She settled on saying. 

“The wind?” Jaime asked, perplexed.

Finally, her eyes met his and Jaime felt his stomach drop. The blue in her irises were dark and cloudy, as if they were about to rain open tears but the way she was biting her bottom lip made Jaime guess that she was trying to hold them back. Her blonde hair dangled loosely to the top of her shoulders with a few wisps flying over her light eyebrows. 

It wasn’t lost on Jaime that Brienne was a big woman. Underneath her baggy sweatshirt, he could see the outline of her broad back and muscled arms. She was strong and Jaime liked that. But sitting next to him, she seemed to small and Jaime didn’t like  that one bit. 

“ _ The wind _ .” She persisted more harshly, almost as if she was begging him to understand her. 

And oddly, he did. Immediately, he was transformed back to the night they met and Jaime could almost hear the crash that first startled him. But what he didn’t understand was how the wind compared to her thinking he was being cruel to her. 

“W-What do I have to do with... the wind?” Jaime asked, carefully. He put his wine glass down next to her and then scooted towards his side of the couch, putting some space between them. He had a feeling what she was about to explain wouldn’t be pleasant and he didn’t want to crowd her. He rested his elbow on the back of the couch and leaned back on the arm.

Noticing him getting settled to listen, she winced quietly and shifted her legs so that she was mimicking his position. She opened her mouth to answer but shook her head and reached for her glass of wine. She downed what was left of it, placed it back on the table and gathered herself together. 

Jaime had to admit, watching her was like watching someone get ready for battle. He just wanted to reach out and gather her in his arms and tell her everything will be alright even though he didn’t have a clue what was wrong. 

“Your very pretty.” She began with, and automatically, Jaime’s eyebrows shot up. He had not expected her to start with that. “And I’m obviously not.”

Jaime waved his hand at her, not liking where this was going, “No—“

“Please,” Brienne interrupted, shaking her head, “It’s not something you can argue. My whole life I’ve been told I’m not beautiful and I’ve accepted it, I really have.” 

As much as he would love to argue that statement, Jaime just nodded for her to continue. It was her story and Jaime had no business butting in so he decided to stay quiet and let her finish. 

“I-I’m 24 and I’ve never had a boyfriend before or... anyone really I guess,” Her eyes trailed downwards uncomfortably, almost as if this was the last thing she wanted to admit to, “Like I said, I’ve come to terms with living my life independently but then something happened at work.” 

Jaime waited for her to continue but her mouth stayed sewn shut. He couldn’t read her eyes as they were still faced towards her legs but her lip was quivering.

“What happened?” Jaime asked, cautiously. 

Brienne looked up at him, the mist in her eyes suddenly cleared. A twisted expression fell over her face before she shifted her body towards the coffee table with the alcohol. Taking the wine bottle in her hand, she poured herself another glass and took a sip. Then, bringing the glass with her, she returned to her position except she cradled the glass in her lap, tracing the rim of it. 

“I’m the only woman where I work so it’s hard to... make friends. I’ve been there about a year and no one made an effort to make me feel included so I just put my all into my work. But then a couple of the guys started to be nice to me. At first it was small, just a chat or even a smile. Then it was lunch dates and inside jokes. It felt nice to be wanted for once. I’ve lived my whole life alone and for a brief moment I was having... fun.” 

A small smile appeared on her lips as she recounted the memories but soon something clouded over her face and her eyes turned misty once again. 

She looked up at him and shrugged, “Turns out it was all a bet on who could get me into bed. First one to fuck the freak got the pot. And apparently it was a good sum of money.”

The only thing Jaime could do to contain his rage was clench his fists and make his tongue bleed with his teeth. He wanted to punch something, someone,  _anything_.  No one deserves that kind of treatment no matter what they look like. 

“Do you have any names?” He gritted out, once the silence got the best of him.

A cute crease appeared in the middle of Brienne’s forehead, “Names?”

“Of the assholes that did this because—“

“Oh no, please,” Brienne stated firmly. She leaned over with worried eyes and placed her hand on his leg, “It was already... taken care of. My boss fired a few of them and the others were... reprimanded, I guess.” She huffed, shaking her head and brought the wine glass to her lips, “He basically told me it was my fault for working in a ‘man’s job field’ and I should have expected this.”

“Absolutely not,” Jaime interjected, immediately, “None of this was your fault—at all. It was those men with their tiny dicks. Your better off without them.” 

Agitated, he reached over to grab his glass and gladly downed the rest of it. He was distracted as he poured himself another, thinking of ways the Lannister name could ruin these men’s lives. Jaime never liked to use his name to his advantage, it reminded him too much like his father. Oddly enough, Jaime felt like throwing reason out the window. 

But then a gentle hand touched his arm and Jaime looked up. Brienne had a warm smile on her face, her cheeks a little pink. It startled Jaime to see her looking at him like that. He didn’t know what he did to deserve it but he never wanted to let it go. 

“Thank you,” She said, simply. 

Jaime’s heart was going a million miles a minute. He took the opportunity to link his fingers with her and pull them into his lap, “Please don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything except listen and any decent person would do the same.”

Brienne scoffed lightly, squeezing his hand, “I don’t think I’ve known many decent people in my life.”

“Well, trust me, I’m not going to be the first.” He teased, giving her a squeeze back. A beat passed before Jaime thought of something. Keeping a hold of her hand, he took one more sip of his wine and placed it back on the table, “Brienne, can I ask you something?”

An anxious look flashed across Brienne’s eyes and Jaime could feel her body go rigid just from the tension in her hand, “O-Of course.”

Not wanting to scare her, he softly caressed the side of her thumb with his and gave her a reassuring smile, “Why did you tell me?” 

Jaime didn’t know if it was the drink that promoted the question or maybe the addicting blue of her eyes. Either way, he wanted to know and he felt bold enough to ask.

She just shrugged, “I—Well I think I needed to tell someone, you know? I needed to get it out and-and, well you offered.” 

Jaime nodded in agreement, “I did.”

Her eyes suddenly turned mischievous, “Also sometimes it’s easier to open up to a stranger. If I wanted I could just never see you again.”

Jaime dropped his head to the side, a pout forming on his lips, “Might be hard seeing as I reside beneath you.”

At first Jaime thought he might have taken it a bit too far. Brienne’s eyes widened at his comment and he could see her battling on how to receive it. 

Jaime was about to apologize  _ profusely _ when Brienne actually cracked a smile, “I’m very good at disappearing.”

Jaime laughed brightly, “I highly doubt that.”

Brienne grinned back, her cheeks deepening into a deep red as her eyes fell onto their joined hands, thoughtfully. He could see her mind churning as she fiddled with the wine glass still in her lap. 

She was toying with her bottom lip, on the verge of either saying something or maybe not but Jaime found himself mesmerized on her full lips. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her so badly but he knew this wasn’t the time— with her being so vulnerable. So he just admired her from a close distance and smiled at her movements. 

Then she looked up at him and instantly Jaime felt the tension in his living room shift. He swallowed nervously, hoping she couldn’t see through him. Hoping she couldn’t see that he yearned for more than just the touch of her hand even though he would be completely satisfied if that’s all she gave him.

On impulse, Jaime felt himself leaning in slightly. He didn’t want to scare her off but he couldn’t help himself. He paused halfway to let her decide but found her face inches away from his. 

Time stood still for a moment.

And just when there was only a breathe between them, a creek echoed throughout his apartment, forcing a small gasp out of Brienne’s mouth. 

“What was that?” She whispered. 

A dozen quips came to Jaime’s mind, but with a chuckle, he replied with, “Must have been the wind.”

And then crashed his lips onto hers.


End file.
